Sister Joan Chittister famously said, "We are each called to go through life reclaiming the planet an inch at a time until the Garden of Eden grows green again." Reflecting on that journey -- a blog at a time -- is the focus of this site.

Friday, January 31, 2014

It's one of my favorite prayers in the "prayers of the people" from our Book of Common Prayer:

Bless all whose lives are closely linked with ours, and grant that we may serve Christ in them, and love one another as Christ loves us.

Lives are closely linked to ours in a variety of ways -- family of origin and family of choice; friends and colleagues; those with us in this realm and those now part of the greater life in the communion of saints.

And this week -- given the gift of time that a sabbatical leave provides -- I've had the chance to spend a bunch of time with lives closely linked with mine ... many who died before I was born. They were members of Louise's family -- and because we were family to each other they
were linked to me.

Louise was the custodian of the family archives and so we had boxes and boxes ... and boxes ... of photos, albums and memorabilia -- and getting them sorted and shipped off to appropriate family members had been on the "to do" list for a long time. And this week was the week.

From her mother's side of the family was the Mason family Bible with births and marriages back to the mid-1800's. Old daguerreotypes of soldiers in uniform and women in wedding dresses. Pictures of Louise's grandmother -- who looked amazingly like Louise at her age -- and postcards from her great-grandmother's trip to California for a wedding in 1922, sent to Louise's mom with photos of Long Beach, Pasadena and Eagle Rock.

Sorting through -- and then packing up -- all these outward and visible signs of the lives and stories I heard about over the years from Louise and her family gave me the chance to give thanks all over again for the family we were to each other -- and for the legacy of love that ties us through the generations to those who've gone before.

So I'm grateful -- not only for the gift of the time to finally get it all shipped off to Colorado but for the gift of those whose lives are closely linked with ours.

Exhibit A: At Work in the Lambeth2008 Fields of the Lord

Monday, January 27, 2014

So what did I think about the mass wedding finale at last night's Grammys?

My mixed feelings included gratitude that the movement for marriage equality continues to gain such high profile momentum; delight in the broad diversity of couples exchanging rings and committing themselves to each other; appreciation that the Grammy marriage celebrations illuminated the line between civil marriage and what we consider "holy matrimony" -- and a bit of an epiphany that last night's highly publicized event gives those of us in the church who are committed to marriage equality a teachable moment about how we can continue to move both the culture and the church forward.

House of Deputies President Gay Jennings just posted a BRILLIANT (and super timely) piece on Religion News Service (RNS) addressing the global persecution of LGBT people … including this quote about the dire situation in Uganda and Nigeria:

"Western Christians cannot ignore the homophobia of these church officials or the peril in which they place Ugandan and Nigerian LGBT people. The legacy of colonial-era Christian missionaries and infusions of cash from modern-day American conservatives have helped to create it."

Amen, Amen, AMEN!

Read the rest here ... and give thanks for national church leaders willing to step up and speak out!

Sunday, January 26, 2014

I finished reading my preview copy of Jay Johnson's new book "Peculiar Faith" and sent this "blurb" off to the publisher:

Jay Johnson’s “Peculiar Faith” finds in the history of Christian faith the keys to revitalizing the future of Christian faith. Exploring the very traditions that have so often been deployed to alienate and disenfranchise “the other” – particularly LGBT people – Johnson inspires the reader to reclaim the transformative power of Christian witness to meet the challenges of the 21st century. His vision of Christian faith that “inspires the hope of at long last being at home in our bodies, at home among others, and at home with God all at the same time” offers good news to a church striving to re-imagine Christianity in an multicultural context. And in calling the 21st century church to embrace the changes and challenges of owning its “peculiar faith” he returns us to the work and witness of the 1st century radical rabbi from Nazareth -- and the God who loved us enough to become one of us in order to show us how to love one another.

We're working down our "see before the Oscars" Movie Bucket List and saw "Nebraska" on Friday and "Dallas Buyers Club" on Saturday. The first was funny, sad, tender, raw, real and quite brilliant. And the second was heartbreakingly brilliant with performances by Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto that haunt.Saturday I had the privilege of presiding at the Bloy House Eucharist ... a first for me and lovely to be back on the Claremont campus in Kresge Chapel with a new crop of Bloy House Students -- and the same old echo. (Worst acoustics in the history of church. Seriously!) Sunday we treated ourselves to a day at the Getty Center with "Treasures of Canterbury and St. Albans" -- viewing stained glass from Canterbury Cathedral and the illuminations from the St. Alban's Psalter and brunch at the Getty Restaurant. The museum visit was followed by a performance of "Haram" ... a play based on the poetry of Dr. Maher Hathout.In his 90's and suffering now with cancer, Dr. Hathout was there for the Q&A following the play -- wearing the prayer shawl from All Saints Church. "I'm wearing your shawl," he said, with a twinkle in his eye. "When I saw you I was afraid you were here to take it back!"

So grateful for the vision of a world of peace, justice and compassion he continues to inspire ... and for a boatload of blessings this week.

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

So I'm thirteen days in to three months of sabbatical leave and I think it's finally starting to sink in that my assignment is NOT to work. At least not to work at what I usually spend all day working at. The idea that your "task" is to rest -- to recreate -- to sabbath -- is profoundly countercultural. But I'm trying.

Reading. (Just finished Jay Johnson's "Peculiar Faith" and about to start a Barbara Kingsolver novel.) Resting. Walking. (Only a mile a day so far but hey ... it's a start.)"Recreating."(We took a family trip to Nevada to visit Lori's mom and today I took an online Star Wars quiz to find out what character I would be. Princess Leia, in case you wondered. AND I'm caught up on Downton Abbey. If that's not "recreation" I don't know what is!) Also doing some much deferred closet organizing, silver polishing, photo sorting ... the kind of stuff you tell yourself you'd do if you had time. And now I have time so ...

I'm also mulling my writing project ... what I'm calling a "narrative history of the Episcopal Inclusion Wars." So far all I've done is assemble a very impressive pile of resources: old news clippings, photos, agendas, liturgies, conference handouts and the like. I've made plans to go to New York in February for the 2014 Episcopal Urban Caucus and my intent there is to start picking some brains and bringing some other folks into the work ... with a goal of starting to write in early March. I'll keep you posted

[W]e are required by [U.S. v.] Windsor to apply heightened scrutiny to classifications based on sexual orientation for purposes of equal protection….[T]here can no longer be any question that gays and lesbians are no longer a ‘group or class of individuals normally subject to ‘rational basis’ review.’” As a result, the court explained, “when state action discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation,” a court “must examine its actual purposes and carefully consider the resulting inequality to ensure that our most fundamental institutions neither send nor reinforce messages of stigma or second-class status.

Lambda Legal will give you all the details over on their blog ...
and you should totally go there and read all about it. As for me, I've got about another hour of daylight so think I'm going to take the dogs outside and see if I can talk one of them into chasing a ball. Not exactly their strong suit but hey ... we're on sabbatical kids! Let's give it a try ...

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

So my sabbatical time -- so far -- has bascially consisted of [a] convincing myself that I'm actually SUPPOSED to not be working [b] catching up on some reading (almost done with the galley of Jay Johnson's upcoming book "Peculiar Faith" whic I'm super loving) and [c] getting around to some deferred-maintenance household things ... including going through a bunch of Louise's old family papers and getting them organized to finally send off to last remaining Brooks sibling -- brother Fred.

In the process, came across these great old postcards ... sent from Pasadena in 1922 to Louise's mom from her grandmother (Louise's "great")... to Massena, NY.
What a trip to find these 90 year old "blasts from the past" making it full circle from Pasadena to NY and then ending up in our garage in a storage box all these years later. (The street scene is "1st Street, Long Beach, California.")

Thursday, January 09, 2014

After eleven years at All Saints Church
I'm on sabbatical. For three months.

It's kind of an extraordinary thing to be given the gift of time to just "be." To rest and to "recreate." To read what you feel like reading rather than what you need to read; to write what you feel like writing rather than what's "due."

Here's how it was described in our parish newsletter:

"Sabbatical” -- derived from the biblical “sabbath” -- is intended as a time for refreshment that “will nurture and feed the body and soul for renewed ministry.” Susan Russell will begin a three month sabbatical leave this week-- January 9 -- returning April 6 in time for Holy Week and Easter. Her plans include rest, recreation and a writing project – what she’s calling a “narrative history of the Anglican Inclusion Wars” chronicling the work of moving the Episcopal Church forward on LGBT inclusion.

I had a wonderful "send off" from the parish on Sunday ... at the 11:15 service Ed invited everyone to participate in what we call "The Big Blessing" and I got well and duly prayed over. (And was SO moved by the folks who emailed and said they had participated from as far away as Massachusetts thanks to our "live stream." Awesome!) Thanks to Mel Soriano for capturing the moment here:

So Sunday was my last "church day;" yesterday was my last "work day;" and today was sabbatical Day One.

I slept in. (WAY in.) I read some more of Jay Johnson's upcoming brilliant new book "Peculiar Faith." I
finally saw the Season 4 launch of Downton Abbey. I watched a LOT of reruns of Chris Christie's press conference on the "Bridgegate" Scandal. And I started to think about thinking about how to organize my time over the next three months.

We'll take a couple of long-weekend trips -- one to visit family and one to chill out at the beach. I'm hoping to attend the Episcopal Urban Caucus Assembly in New York in February. And I'll meet with the Task Force on the Study of Marriage at the end of March.

I hope to clean out some closets, organize some photos, read some fiction and get more exercise.

And I plan to get started on this narrative history of the "inclusion wars" that I've been mulling for a good long while now. It is the story of a movement that took the Episcopal Church from the threat of an ecclesial trial for a bishop who ordained a partnered gay man in 1996 to the approval of liturgies for the blessing of same-sex relationships in 2012 -- and, we hope, beyond to full marriage equality in the not-too-distant future.

It is the story of the prophetic, persistent work and witness of an extraordinary cohort of Jesus following justice makers who not only dared to imagine a future "beyond inclusion" but dared to make it a reality. I hope I can weave the didactic details of the journey together with the narrative history of the journeyers into a piece that will not only inform but inspire.

I hope it will be a piece that will not only archive what happened to move the Episcopal Church forward on LGBT inclusion but will inspire readers to take what we learned in that struggle about building coalitions, overcoming setbacks and staying on message and apply those lessons to the other seemingly intractable challenges we face: from ending gun violence to implementing immigration reform; protecting women's health care to working for economic justice.

So that -- in a nutshell -- is what I'm going to "do" on sabbatical. I'll keep you posted!

Monday, January 06, 2014

"Wise women throughout time and in every culture know themselves to be seekers and seers of the Divine. In Janet McKenzie’s interpretation of the Magi, women around the world find an image of the Epiphany that includes and validates their encounters with the One Who Saves, celebrated here in the powerful, protective and tender manifestation of a mother and her child,
embraced and nurtured by a loving community. Here is global inclusiveness and a vision of mutuality and interdependence – the giving and receiving of the three gifts essential to life itself: presence, love and daily bread. Epiphany proclaims again and anew: Christ for all people. God’s favor extends to all!" -- from the Janet McKenzie Christmas Card

Wednesday, January 01, 2014

So I grew up in Eagle Rock ... live in Altadena and work in Pasadena. The Rose Parade is just what we DO on New Year's Day here.

One of the local equestrian families live on our street so we watch the horses and ropers practicing all year. ...We drive by the La Canada volunteers building their float on our way to and from the grocery store all week.

And this year we had an All Saints great-granddaughter (via Alma Stokes) in the Rose Court; Jon Bruno and Julie Campoy riding on the City of Hope Float; two local men making the parade theme "Dreams Come True" include the dream of marriage equality by getting married on a float AND Vin Scully as Grand Marshall.

Welcome to my blog ...

... where I try to be really clear about what I'm clear about. For example:

Religious persecution is when you're prevented from exercising your beliefs, not when you're prevented from IMPOSING your beliefs.

========

Until we end the blatant and indefensible discrimination of DOMA we are not living up to the pledge we make to be a nation of liberty and justice for all, we are not providing the equal protection guaranteed by the 14th Amendment to same-sex couples and we are failing to defend the self-evident truth that our forbearers fought to protect: that ALL people are created equal.

============ Using "biblical standards" to condemn those who understand that sexual orientation is morally neutral makes as much sense as using "biblical standards" to condemn astronomers who understand that the earth revolves around the sun. The Bible may have said it but that doesn't always settle it. ============ It's liberty and justice for all -- not some. It's respect the dignity of every human being -- not just straight ones. Got it? Great. Let's do it.

====== In order to keep moving forward toward liberty and justice for all we can't just be right about what the 1st Amendment protects. We have to be smart about how we respond to those who skipped the 9th Commandment and think lying is a Traditional Family Value. ======= Jesus said "Love your neighbor." Not "Love your neighbor unless your neighbor is gay."

Basic Bio

A cradle Episcopalian second generation Dodger fan ENFJ native of Los Angeles I was ordained in 1996 and currently serve as a Senior Associate at All Saints Church, Pasadena.
My family consists of my wife Lori, 2 dogs, (Hillary & Chelsea), 3 cats (Maui, Cherokee and Harold) and our four young adult kids: Jim (married to the awesome Kelly), Brian, Grace and Emily.
My life in the church has included everything from Junior Altar Guild with my Aunt Gretchen to my “obligatory young adult lapsed phase” to a tour of duty on the St. Paul’s, Ventura vestry where I also worked as parish secretary to a life-heart-soul changing experience as part of the Cursillo community to serving on my parish ECW Board to seminary at the School of Theology in Claremont to associate/day school chaplain positions at St. Mark’s, Altadena and St. Peter’s, San Pedro to Executive Director of Claiming the Blessing to my current parish position at All Saints Church. It’s been a long and winding road and the journey continues: an inch at a time.

Bottom Line:

A Comment On Comments

Strongly held perspectives are appreciated. Ad hominem attacks will be deleted. When in doubt, revisit page 305 of the BCP and if what you're typing doesn't meet the "respect the dignity" clause of the Baptismal Covenant then save us both some time and energy and don't hit "send."

DISCLAIMER

This blog is the personal weblog of one Susan Lynn Russell. The opinions expressed herein are hers and hers alone. The postions taken on matters theological or political (or anything else, for that matter) are in no way to be construed as the official positions of any other person, institution, group or organization.

Other Cool Stuff I Get To Do

Smart things other people have said you should know about

“Faith in action is called politics. Spirituality without action is fruitless and social action without spirituality is heartless. We are boldly political without being partisan. Having a partisan-free place to stand liberates the religious patriot to see clearly, speak courageously, and act daringly.” -- Ed Bacon

“Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice. Justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against love.” – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

"It's time for "tolerant" religious people to acknowledge the straight line between the official anti-gay theologies of their denominations and the deaths of these young people. Nothing short of changing our theology of human sexuality will save these young and precious lives." -- The Rt Rev Gene Robinson

"How can you initiate someone into the Body of Christ and then treat them like they’re half-assed baptized?" - The Rt Rev Barbara Harris

“I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” ~ Elie Wiesel, 1986 Nobel Peace Prize

"Resolve to be tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant with the weak and wrong. Sometime in your life, you will have been all of these." — Siddhārtha Gautama

"I'm so glad Mary didn't wait for the formulation of a Doctrine of the Incarnation before she said 'Yes' to God." -- Ed Bacon

"The great Easter truth is not that we will be born again someday but that we are to be alive here and now by the power of the resurrection." -- Philips Brooks (paraphrase)

"History belongs to the intercessors, who believe the future into being.” -- Walter Wink

“Patience, a quality of holiness may be sloth in the soul when associated with the lack of righteous indignation.” -- Abraham Heschel

"Don't tell me what you believe. Tell me what difference it makes that you believe!" -- Verna Dozier

“We establish no religion in this country, we command no worship, we mandate no belief. Nor will we ever. Church and state are, and must remain, separate. All are free to believe or not believe, all are free to practice a faith or not, and those who believe are free and should be free, to speak of and act on their belief. At the same time as our constitution prohibits state religion, establishment of it protects the free exercise of all religions. And walking this fine line requires government to be strictly neutral.” -- Ronald Reagan

Let's be clear. The fact that the State authorizes a marriage in no way compels any Church to perform or recognize it. Marriage equality merely guarantees equality under the law to all citizens; it does not compel churches to do anything.-- Katherine Ragsdale